Military personnel and civilians alike desire accurate, yet simple and durable, firearms. One preferred type of firearm is a bolt-action rifle. Generally, a bolt-action rifle has a longitudinal axis. A barrel is in longitudinal alignment with a bolt. A cocking piece with a downwardly extending contact is at the rear end of the bolt. The bolt and cocking piece are within a receiver. The receiver has a bottom. One type of bolt-action rifle is a Mauser type rifle. In a Mauser or similar type rifle, the front of a sear is pivotally connected to the receiver. The rear of the sear has an upwardly extending sear contact. A trigger is pivotally connected to the sear. A conventional trigger, such as the one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,549,904 to Hoard, has a top with two bumps thereon that engage the receiver bottom. When the trigger is pulled rearward parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rifle, the bumps slide forward against the receiver bottom, and the rear of the sear and the sear contact pivot down from the receiver bottom. The trigger has a break point. Pulling the trigger past its break point fires the rifle. Play in the trigger before the break point is called creep. Play in the trigger after the break point is called over-travel. Together, the creep and over-travel define the total trigger travel.
Another type of bolt-action rifle is a Mosin-Nagant rifle. In a Mosin-Nagant rifle, the trigger is pivotally connected to the receiver. The sear is deflectably connected to the receiver. The trigger has an opening therethrough for receiving the sear. As a user pulls the trigger, the trigger rotates about a point on the receiver and forces the sear to deflect away from the receiver. The rear of the sear has a sear contact for contacting the cocking piece contact.
A rifle generally can be in one of three positions: an un-cocked position, a cocked position, and a fired position. In the un-cocked position, the cocking piece contact is behind and spaced from the sear contact, and the sear contact does not restrict the cocking piece movement. In the cocked position, the sear contact abuts the cocking piece contact to prevent the cocking piece from moving forward. In the fired position, the cocking piece contact is forward of and out of contact with the sear contact. When the rifle is in the cocked position, pulling the trigger past its break point causes the rifle to fire.
One problem with conventional triggers such as those shown in the Hoard patent is that a relatively large amount of sliding friction exists between bumps on the trigger and the receiver bottom. A patent showing just one bump but still having a similar amount of friction is U.S. Pat. No. 2,388,149 to Humeston. This friction contributes to a large trigger pull. Typically, four to five pounds of force, or more, need to be applied to the trigger in the direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the gun to fire a gun. Yet, if the shooter fails to pull the trigger straight back, the shooter applies a transverse force to the trigger. A transverse force creates a torque in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the gun, which can cause the gun to twist about that axis. The larger the trigger pull, the greater the potential for this type of problem. This problem is prevalent in both Mauser type and Mosin-Nagant type rifles, wherein there exists a large amount of friction between the trigger and the sear.
Further, with respect to the Mauser type rifles, the bumps on the trigger and the receiver bottom can wear away over time. This can cause permanent damage to both the trigger and the receiver bottom.
One publication entitled Gunsmith Kinks II, compiled by Frank Brownwell, and published by Brownwell & Son in 1983 shows a ball used in conjunction with a trigger for use with a Mauser type rifle. The ball is not secured in place within the trigger. Further, the sear must be retrofitted to receive the ball. Retrofitting the sear to receive the ball is an undesirable expense. Still further, the location of the ball relative to the trigger is not adjustable. As such, the trigger must be produced within a relatively exact tolerance in order for the gun to function properly. Even if the trigger is made to a relatively exact tolerance, each gun may be made to a less exact tolerance. It may be difficult to mass-produce a non-adjustable trigger. Additionally, gun owners may desire a fine-tuned gun trigger. Yet, the trigger shown in this publication is incapable of being fine-tuned. Hence, users may not find the trigger shown in this publication desirable. A further drawback is that the teachings shown in this publication do not appear to be adaptable to other types of firearms.
A further problem with conventional triggers is that they have a large trigger travel. This problem is prevalent in both Mauser and Mosin-Nagant type rifles. Shooters may find large trigger travel disruptive, as the shooter's finger must go through a larger distance than necessary to fire the rifle.
The Hoard patent discloses two set screws to limit trigger travel in a Mauser type rifle. However, the set screws do not pass through pieces integral with the trigger. Rather, they pass through attachments that must be welded to the trigger. The production costs are undesirably high, and the welds may fail over time.
Other replacement triggers are complex and may require substantial modifications to the gun prior to installation. Many people would be incapable of installing the triggers themselves. The complex triggers may employ springs or the like, that may fail over time. One such design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,970 to Bell. The gun trigger in this patent is not a one-to-one replacement for a conventional trigger.
Traditional methods of manufacturing triggers have undesirable limitations. For example, stamping and molding are undesirable in that they are not precise enough to manufacture relatively detailed triggers. Laser cutting produces too much heat to cut tiny pieces, because the heat can melt the metal or otherwise cause undesirable hardening of the material.
These and similar types problems are not limited to the specific types of bolt-action rifles detailed above. Rather, these problems are prevalent in other types of bolt action rifles as well.
There exists a need for a trigger that solves these and other problems.